December 7, 2008

Needy SF Families Given First Computers

KCBS' Tim Ryan reports (Click to listen)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)—A group of underprivileged San Francisco students are at last on the other side of the digital divide, after receiving state-of-the-art home computers loaded with educational software.

Ninety 6th and 7th graders showed up at Horace Mann Middle School in the Mission District on Saturday, along with their parents, to learn how to set up and operate their new PC's.
The free gear and DSL service come compliments of Computers for Youth, an educational nonprofit.

"Our mission is to help low-income students succeed by improving their home learning environment," said California State Director Emily Simas. "We really focus on getting resources into families' homes."

By spring of next year, the organization expects to equip 500 needy families statewide with new educational computers.